Former Manatee school investigator will get separate trial

A former Manatee County school district investigator will stand trial apart from three co-defendants in the Rod Frazier case, a judge ruled Monday.

Debra Horne's motion for severance was granted by Manatee County Circuit Judge Thomas Krug, who ruled that Horne “has been improperly joined in this case.”

Horne is charged with a felony count of failure to report child abuse after she investigated concerns of inappropriate contact between Frazier and several female students at Manatee High School last November.

Also charged in the case are Manatee County assistant superintendent Bob Gagnon, and former Manatee High assistant principals Matthew Kane and Gregg Faller.

They each face a felony count of failure to report child abuse, a misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse and one misdemeanor count of providing false information to police.

During a hearing on Friday, Assistant State Attorney Dawn Buff argued against the motion of severance, saying Horne's charge was the same as the others — the only difference being the others were charged with additional crimes.

The Penn State football scandal played a part in the charges that were filed on Aug. 15 against the four school officials.

The law changed in October 2012, making it a felony to not report suspected child abuse.

Faller, Kane and Gagnon were charged with misdemeanor counts because they allegedly did not report suspected child abuse before the law changed.

In this case, Horne was not aware of complaints of inappropriate behavior between Frazier and students until November, a month after the law changed.

“It appears Horne was made aware of concerns regarding a school employee and students at a later date than her co-defendants,” Krug wrote. “Therefore it is an impossibility for Horne to be accountable for an offense for which she was unaware of.”

Derek Byrd, Horne's attorney, argued that Horne should be severed from the other three because they face different charges and he did not want his client exposed to “guilt by association” during a jury trial.

“Obviously I'm happy with the judge's ruling and now there's a better chance of getting a fair trial,” Byrd said. “At the end of the day the most important thing is that someone gets a fair trial and the judge recognized that.”

A trial date for the four defendants has been set for June 16.

“I respect the court's ruling in this matter,” said Buff, the prosecutor. “This is a unique factual scenario with scant prior case laws upon which to rely.

“I'll go forward with the case as the court rules on it. The court's job is to make those determinations and I'll abide by them.”

It is unclear if the other three co-defendants also will file motions of severance, though Brett McIntosh, Kane's attorney, said recently he was strongly considering it.

Frazier is a former parent liaison and assistant football coach at Manatee High. He is charged with seven misdemeanor counts of battery and three misdemeanor counts of interfering with a student's attendance.

The five people charged in the case all have pleaded not guilty.

Horne, who also was an assistant principal at Prine Elementary, is retiring from the district effective Nov. 2.

Superintendent Rick Mills has recommended termination for Kane, Faller and Gagnon and they have been suspended without pay pending a hearing.

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